Saint Andrew Events

On my day off this week, I made homemade waffles. They were crispy and buttery. They tasted amazing with bacon and maple syrup. As I ate them I reflected on how similar the ingredients were to plain white toast. But they were so much better than plain dry toast!

The difference was a little adjustment of ingredients and, of course, the effort of making the waffles from scratch that morning. I realized that the physical ingredients might be the same, but the care and timing of the ingredients made a tremendous difference.

Our lives show the same sensitivity to care and timing.  Two people can have very similar lives but one life can be full of drudgery while the other life can seem beautiful and adventurous.  Just like the homemade waffles versus the dry toast, the same ingredients can give very different results depending on the care given to them.

In the gospel reading from Luke 17:11-20, we see a similar example.  Jesus meets ten people who are suffering from a skin disease, known at the time as leprosy. Jesus heals the people. And as the ten go on their way, one turns back to thank Jesus.

These people all had similar difficulties in life. They all met Jesus and experienced the same miracle of healing. But one took the time to think about how blessed he was to be healed. And, as he experienced this internal thankfulness, he took the time to express his gratitude to the one who helped him. He turned his personal healing into a community experience. And he got to spend extra time with Jesus. His gratitude created an even greater experience beyond the initial miracle.

What does this mean for us? Maybe instead of wishing for more, we could spend more time appreciating what we have and the people who have helped us. Maybe we could tell the people around us right now how much they mean to us. Life is not about physical things. It is about relationships. Make sure you take the time to care for those relationships. Your life doesn’t have to be dry white toast. With a little care it can be so much more.